RRS Discovery D302
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74E3) |
| Cruise identifier | D302 |
| Cruise period | 2006-03-16 — 2006-04-12 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Cape Town, South Africa |
| Port of return | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Discovery cruises D302 and D301b were a joint expedition between NIOZ and NOC to study the waters flowing to the west and south of Madagascar. The principal objectives of D302 were to :
1. Recover moorings deployed during MadEx (D288) 2. Complete a line of CTD stations across the flow to the south of Madagascar. 3. Examine spatial variability in biology, by taking underway samples for microscopy, HPLC, flow cytometry, and relating those to satellite and shipborne ocean colour measurements. |
| Chief scientist | Graham D Quartly (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) |
| Project | Ocean Variability & Climate (OVAC) |
| Coordinating body | SOC |
| Cruise report |  (2.47 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | South West Atlantic Ocean (limit 20W) |
| Specific | Mozambique Channel |
| Track charts | (0.17 MB) |
| Measurements | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Surface measurements underway (T,S) | Quantity: activity duration in days = 25 Description: Temperature, salinity, fluorescence, transmittance, FRRF |
| Bathythermograph | Quantity: number of stations = 21 Description: XBTs - 8 x type T5 (reach 1830m) others were T7 (760m) |
| Water bottle stations | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| CTD stations | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| Transparency (eg transmissometer) | Quantity: activity duration in days = 25 Description: Temperature, salinity, fluorescence, transmittance, FRRF |
| Optics (eg underwater light levels) | Quantity: activity duration in days = 15 Description: Upward and downward looking hyperspectral radiometers |
| Instrumented wave measurements | Quantity: activity duration in days = 25 Description: Met obs. from foremast (air temp, irradiance, humidity, wind speed and direction) + SBWR (wave data) |
| Chemical oceanography | |
| Oxygen | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| Phosphate | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| Total - N | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| Silicate | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence) | Quantity: activity duration in days = 10 Description: Underway samples, typically every 4 hours, filtered for HPLC analysis |
| Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence) | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| Particulate organic matter (inc POC, PON) | Quantity: activity duration in days = 10 Description: Underway samples, typically every 12 hours, filtered for POM analysis |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: number of stations = 14 Description: CTD with samples taken for salinity calibration, plus nutrient analysis, Filtration for HPLC analysis and microscopy was only in top 200cm |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: activity duration in days = 10 Description: Underway samples, typically every 2 hours, preserved in lugols/formalin |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: activity duration in days = 20 Description: Cell counts of dominant species using flow cytometry (typically every 20 mins) |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: number of stations = 29 Description: Flow cytometry analysis of all bottles from both D301 and D302 CTD stations |
| Meteorology | |
| Incident radiation | Quantity: activity duration in days = 25 Description: Met obs. from foremast (air temp, irradiance, humidity, wind speed and direction) + SBWR (wave data) |
| Routine standard measurements | Quantity: activity duration in days = 25 Description: Met obs. from foremast (air temp, irradiance, humidity, wind speed and direction) + SBWR (wave data) |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Current meters | 26° 27' 29" S 46° 29' 48" E — ADCP near surface - recovered after ~14 month deployment |
| Current meters | 26° 55' 30" S 46° 45' 54" E — ADCP near surface - recovered after ~14 month deployment |
| Current meters | 26° 0' 11" S 46° 20' 24" E — ADCP near surface - recovered after ~14 month deployment |
| Current profiler (eg ADCP) | 26° 55' 30" S 46° 45' 54" E — ADCP near surface - recovered after ~14 month deployment |
| Current profiler (eg ADCP) | 26° 0' 11" S 46° 20' 24" E — ADCP near surface - recovered after ~14 month deployment |
| Current profiler (eg ADCP) | 26° 7' 30" S 47° 45' 54" E — McLane moored profiler - recovered after ~14 month deployment: had suffered damage from fishing line after 2 months on site |
| Surface drifters/drifting buoys | 25° 56' 42" S 47° 30' 0" E — 4 PODs (Pop-up Ocean Drifters) deployed. |
